Our Week in Meals #427

Good morning, and happy Sunday! After a long and snowy Christmas break, we finally returned to the work and school routine this week. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Church was canceled because of the icy roads on Sunday morning, so we had a slower start. I made a couple of loaves of shortcut Amish friendship bread (without starter),

got out for a walk with Keith, prepared my favorite tuna salad recipe for easy lunches,

and met my parents at Spencer’s indoor soccer game after lunch.

We watched football on TV, and I made a pot of Italian sausage tortellini soup for supper…

…which we paired with a loaf of my dad’s no-knead Dutch oven bread. A perfect winter meal!

Let’s chat books! This week I read Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh. Whoa! This psychological thriller really surprised me — so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. It’s definitely a creative page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end!

The boys were off of school again on Monday (thanks to the lingering snow that fell the week before).

Keith and I got out for a walk,

I took Gibbs to an orthodontist appointment after lunch, and Spencer had an indoor soccer practice that evening.

I made a chicken and rice casserole with mushroom soup for supper,

which we paired with store-bought yeast rolls and a house salad with candied pecans.

The boys finally returned to school on Tuesday after a very long Christmas break. Meanwhile, I buckled down to catch up on a lot of work. Back to the routine!

Dinner included this New Orleans BBQ shrimp recipe,

served with rice and okra and tomatoes.

It was our 20th anniversary on Wednesday! Since Keith and I celebrated the weekend before, it was a pretty low-key day.

Ashley and I walked our dogs together in the morning, and I spent a few hours editing photos at the computer.

We had one of my favorites for dinner: chicken pot pie with puff pastry and a side salad. I wanted the meal to feel a little more special, so I prepared 5 individual pot pies (which the boys loved). I needed both sheets of puff pastry from the package to cut enough squares for each dish, but otherwise the assembly and baking was the same.

Plus the absolute best one-bowl buttermilk chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert!

The temps were so chilly that the snow just wasn’t melting (this is our driveway over a week after the snow actually came down)! Ashley and I got out for a short walk on Thursday morning, skating around the ice as much as possible…

More comfort food for dinner that night: Sloppy Joe tater tot casserole with steamed green beans on the side.

I made a batch of my favorite bran muffins for breakfast on Friday,

…and then the boys headed to school and I went up to Culpeper for Pilates and a couple of errands.

I always love to try the seasonal options at Dunkin’, and I thought this brown sugar shaken espresso was great (sweet, but not too sweet)!

Gibbs had a golf lesson after school,

and then I made this healthy chicken parmesan for supper when we got home. We paired the chicken with pasta and marinara, Caesar salad (from a store-bought kit), and garlic breadsticks for a meal that came together in about 30 minutes.

And that brings us to the weekend! Keith and Gibbs headed to Richmond to a big golf store on Saturday morning, and Mollie came over for a visit and walk mid-day. Sunshine, blue skies, and melting snow!

I took the night off from cooking and instead we picked up German take-out from The Bavarian Chef. Giant pretzels, schnitzel, salads, and more! Then we were off to our friends’ house for drinks, snacks, and the Commanders’ NFL playoff game. I haven’t seen Keith so happy about a football game in 20+ years!

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy winter meals. I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your own kitchen in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!